Robotic fingers or jaws are commonly employed in a variety of pick and place apparatuses. Such apparatus often has a bushing carried within recesses within the pivoted portions of the fingers such as illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,211,123 and 4,234,223 for opening and closing the jaws. These patents respectively show recesses within the fingers or jaws forming camming surfaces for a flat bushing in the first instance, and in the second instance there is a recess of limited extent for accommodating a bushing which centers itself as it slides back and forth within a slot. Other United States Patents illustrating the state of the art include: U.S. Pat. Nos. 228,557; 344,222; 604,973 and 4,234,223.
An important object of this invention, therefore, is to provide an improved robotic gripper wherein a bushing positioned in a recess which conforms thereto for producing movement in the jaws directly responsive movement of the power actuating mechanism on both open and closing strokes thereof.
Another important object of the invention is to provide robotic fingers operated by a bushing carried in a recess within the fingers to provide a power multiplier which is enhanced through over-gripping of the fingers.